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Show 302 TALES OF THE COLORADO PIONEERS. and on these they subsisted for some days. But roots, as a means of subsistence, were found not to be very nutritious. Soon there came into the eyes of the men a look of longing, restlessness and determination, which has been described in sea stories, when men were offered up in sacrifice to save the lives of others. One day I went out to gather dry wood for the fire, and when I returned I found that in my absence the first life had been sacrificed. Lying upon the ground, dead, was the oldest man in the partj^, Mr. Swan. Around him were congregated the four men who were engaged in cutting up his body. Large pieces and strips were cut from the calves of his legs, thighs and breasts. Swan's money, amounting to several thousand dollars, was divided among the men* In two days the party were again without food, and it was decided by three of the survivors, that Miller, a young man, well built and stout, should be the next to go. He was chosen because of the great amount of flesh he carried. Miller was killed with a hatchet while stooping for a stick of wood. His body was dissected and the best parts eaten. Humphrey and Noon followed in the same way, leaving only myself and Bell.' In his confession, Packer described fully the feelings of the men to^ wards each other. The distrust and fears entertained, and the tendency of the men to walk off alone, fearful of meeting their death at the hands of their companions. " Meanwhile the men had been traveling slowly, and when Packer and Bell found themselves alone a solemn compact was entered into between them, each pledging himself by the living God not to kill the other, but to live as best they could, even if they starved to death- Each had a rifle, Packer having appropriated Swan's, and |